We have a warm sunny day here in central Florida. Sorry you folks up north are having such a bad time of it. It makes me shiver just to see the pictures of all that white stuff. Console yourself with a hot drink and think of sunny Italy as we look at the last part of my preview from "My Heart Still Surrenders."

* * * *

“Ma’donna Carolina, don’t cry so. You will make yourself ill. Come, let Maria hold you.” The woman, a distant cousin of her late
mother, had been her companion since childhood.
She enfolded Carolina in her arms and held her against her amble, dark
clothed bosom.

“Maria,
I’ll never see him again. We’ve been
planning to marry since we were children.
How will I live without him?” She
sat up straight and attempted to compose herself. “What will I do so far away in Turin? Why must I serve a cause I don’t understand?”

“You
must be patient. Perhaps your father
will come to his senses.” The older
woman stroked a hand down her arm to comfort her, but Carolina found no hope in
Maria's bleak, distant expression as the older woman stared out the carriage
window.

* *
* *

Across
the expanse of uneven ground, the man standing in the shelter of the cypress
trees lowered his binoculars. He tilted
them so the sun would not reflect off the lenses and disclosure his presence. He retraced his steps to the horse he’d
tethered in the shelter of the stone ruins at the edge of the cemetery.

“Come
Compeador. The young lovers, whoever
they are, will no doubt find their way through whatever troubles them, but
their presence has delayed our journey long enough. I must deliver the King’s message to my
contact in the Vatican before midnight.”

****

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